Tuesday’s delay is an embarrassment for French authorities, who have invested 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) over the past decade to clean up the Seine River. — Reuters

The men’s triathlon scheduled to start on Tuesday was postponed after last-ditch water quality tests in the Seine River revealed unhealthy levels of pollution, organisers said.

In a move that angered athletes and alarmed Olympic officials, organisers announced just before 05:00 (03:00 GMT) that the men’s event would be postponed for 24 hours and would take place immediately after the women’s race on Wednesday.

A joint statement from Paris 2024 and the World Triathlon Federation said the excessive pollution was caused by heavy rainfall in the French capital on Friday and Saturday.

“Paris 2024 and the World Triathlon Federation emphasise once again that their priority is the health of athletes,” it said in a statement following the meeting, which was held at 03:30 local time (01:30 GMT).

“Tests carried out on the Seine River today revealed water quality that was not sufficient to provide sufficient assurance for the event to be held.

“Unfortunately, meteorological events beyond our control … may alter water quality and cause us to reschedule the event for health reasons.”

Organisers had cancelled training sessions planned for Sunday and Monday on the Seine River due to dangerous levels of pollution caused by last week’s rains.

But they said they were confident they would be able to make it to Tuesday’s race because the weather in Paris this week was sunny and bright, keeping bacteria levels low.

French Triathlon Federation Technical Director Benjamin Maze told FranceInfo radio there was “a bit of anger” among competitors.

“The athletes got up just before 4am and were having breakfast when we got the information from the international federation,” he said. “There’s obviously some anger and a lot of frustration.”

Adding to the concerns is the threat of a storm on Tuesday evening, casting doubt on the viability of holding the men’s and women’s races on Wednesday.

“There is still a lot of uncertainty about their orbit and their intensity. We can’t say anything for sure,” Christophe Calas, a weather forecaster with the Paris 2024 organizing committee, told reporters on Monday.

“If there is a storm that brings significant rainfall overnight, this will have an impact on the water quality in the Seine,” added the expert from national forecaster Meteo France.

Tuesday’s delay is an embarrassment for French authorities, who have invested 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) over the past decade to clean up the Seine River, including major new water treatment and storage facilities in and around Paris.

The city’s underground drains and sewer system are still affected by heavy rainfall, causing untreated wastewater to flow into waterways.

After an exceptionally wet spring and early summer, the Seine was consistently failing water tests until early July.

The level of E.Coli bacteria found in the stool was sometimes as high as 10 times the allowable limits.

The outcome of the men’s triathlon looks unpredictable. Tokyo 2020’s three medallists, Norwegian Kristian Blummenfelt, British Alex Yee and New Zealander Hayden Wilde, will compete. French favourites Leo Bergere and Dorian Coninx are also expected to take part.